The Gathering Storm
by Chimera1123
Summary: Picard encounters the Protected Planets Coalition and the war between the Typhon Pact and the Kitohmer Alliance begins in earnest.


**Mars orbit, Utopia Planitia shipyard.****USS Enterprise E.**

Captains log suplimental the Enterprises refit is proceeding on schedule. The addition of a phase cloak sets my teeth on edge. And the new Isomagnetic disintigrators were quite an inovation in weapons technology But then I look at the reports coming in from Starfleet Intelligence indicate that the Typhon pact has mobilized against the Neyel. There have also been reports of large fleet movements along the borders of Khitomer Alliance space.

With our new cloaking technology and our slipstream drives we will find new allies rimwards of the alpha quadrant.

In addition to this Admiral Janeway has reported contact with yet another Human civilization which has embraced gentetic engineering and if reports are to be believed gentetic slavery. These truly are troubling times for the Federation.

The war between the Typhon pact and The Neyel has entered its sixth month and there have been skirmishes all allong the borders of khitimer Alliance space. So far we have managed to maintain our nuetrality. It remains to be seen just how long we can mantain the status quo...

"Captain we are recieving a priority hail from starfleet command its Admiral Riker..." Picard stood up from the couch and went to his desk, entered his passcode. "Captain im afraid I have orders for you and the Enterprise, we need you to head for Tholian space the tholians are claiming to have been engaged by additional human forces... forces which claim to be part of the Prorected Planets Coalitition. However no one in the Federation or the expanded khitomer Accords has ever heard of them. You and the Enterprise are tasked with discovering these human forces, to assess their capabilities and to establish relations. Perhaps they could be our allies. I dont need to tell you Jean Luc, the galaxy is getting more dangerous by the day..." Riker said grimly.

"Indeed Will, it is indeed." he said with a nod. He pauses to lift a cup to his lips and then, "We shall depart within the hour." he said.

"I cant send you out there alone, ive ordered the Prometheus, the Achillies, the Rapier, and the Megladon to rondevouz with you at the border. You will then proceed on mission. Stay safe Captian. Riker out."

The screen went blank. Captain picard stood straightened his uniform and then tapped his combage. "Picard to all hands, prep for departure slip stream in ten minutes..."

**Protected Planets Coalition Space.**

**Phoenix mouth of the wormhole.**

Samantha Carter bit her lip in concentration as she examined the hasty defenses 2nd fleet had implaced around the wormhole. It had been a quiet week so far the Typhon Pact had stayed on the other side of the worm hole. There were six Shield class defense stations had been towed from orbit to the mouth of the wormhole. Hundreds of mines had been emplaced between the stations and the wormhole. The system was alive with ships, the second fleet was just beyond the stations waiting. third fleet would arrive in four days. She had to hold the system until that happened. The jaffa task group had taken 40 percent casualties in the breif engagement. As a result only 26 of the 40 vessels waited with second fleet.

"General, we are recieving a report from Ida and Pegasus. They say that they have coordinates for the closest federation outpost a place called Deep space 27...

**DeepSpace 27 Federation Tholian Typhon Pact Border.**

**USS Enterprise E **

Captain Picard watched the ships of Task Group Griffin dropped out of slipstream together. The Enterprise was in the middle of the formation with the Achillies while the other 3 ships screened the larger vessels as they approached Deep Space 27. The station was massive able to dry dock over 30 vessels as well as having 3 docking rings that were five kilometers in diameter. Some one million sentients called the massive station home with another five hundred thousand coming and going daily. The station itself orbited an Mclass moon named Copernicus. It had originally been the Freeholds major fleet yard and military base, though with the extant of orbital industry the Copernicans had built, it was by no means the only station orbiting the moon. With federation membership the station had been upgraded. Copernicus, and the Copernican Freehold had been granted Federation membership just after the Borg invasion. The Freehold had managed to go unnoticed by the Borg and the Dominion before. They had done this by seeming to remain within their space, while simultaneously gaining technologies in exchange for building ships for anyone who could pay.

"Set for standard holding pattern near the station." Picard ordered from the captains chair. The fleet kept formation.

"Sir! I am detecting two unknown vessels decloaking!" Picards head snapped to the crew man and ordered "Battle stations! status on the unknowns!" The two obviously military vessels apeared on the viewscreen. "Reading shields, Railguns, Plasma weaponry, and heavy armor..."

**Pegasus, Ida Deep Space 27**

Colonel Kendrik sat forward in his command chair. Staring at the ships in front of his. " Open a channel," he ordered. "This is Colonel Kendrik of the Protected Planets Coalitoin ship Pegasus, to Federation ships, we are not hostile, we have been attacked by the Typhon Pact forces. They said we were members of the Federation... to be honest we had never heard of the United Federation of Planets. We would like to establish diplomatic relations and perhaps discuss an alliance." He said.

"Welcome Colonel, would you care to meet aboard the Enterprise? We can share a meal and get to know eachother. Then perhaps we can discuss more." Picard said.

"Im afraid we dont have time for that we have detected a fleet of Typhon Pact vessels approaching. We would be happy to assist if you wish." Colonel Kendrick said.

"You have our thanks, we would be honored to fight alongisde you. System wide, enemy vessels have been detected on approach. All civilian traffic is directed to depart. All Copernican military and Federation ships are to prepare for combat." Picard ordered "Red Alert!"

The Pegasus and the Ida took formation alongside the federation formation. "Launch fighters," colonel kendricks ordered. "They are to screen the fleet." An alarm went off to one side of the bridge. "colonel the Federation ships have launched 100 attack ships of their own. They are taking position on the fleets flanks.

Detecting 50 Typhon pact vessels dropping out of ftl. They are launching fighters as well. Reading 10 Tholian dreadnaughts, 30 web wever class ships and ten netship carriars. All vessels have powered their shields and weapons. They have entered extreme weapons range."

"Hail them," Picard ordered at the same moment the Pegasus and the Ida and their fighters fired at the lead Typon Pact vessels just a pair of tholian dreadnaughts who opened fire a split second later, peppering the fleets shields with bolts of tetrions.

The plasma beams from the Pegasus and the Ida targeted a single dreadnaught and fired four beams a piece, the tholian dreadnaughts shields held back seven of the beams bit the eighth knocked the shield down. The following railgun rounds shredded the hull of the dreadnaught which listed in space.

The PPCs 302b fighters of which there were 48, swarmed through the attack ships cutting a swath of destruction through them as they fired a pair of miniturized plasma beam cannons. Each sqaudron targeted two ships and fired on 8 targets. Of the eight ships targeted by the fighters two were destroyed outright as the plasma beams drained and penetrated their shields and cut through their hulls. The others came through with moderate shield damage but had manuevered to negate the incoming fire.

The Tholians and the Breen deployed a new weapon as the fighters flew past them. The weapon were dozens of weaver web drones. They assumed an enveloping formation and fired there webs. Dozens of webs connects in a glowing net that holds 20 of the 302b fighters were seales in the web, which quickly began to contract around them.

"Target the drones, light them up people!" Colonel kendricks orders. Both PPC vessels targeted the drones with a hail of railgun fired naquada trinium projectiles, and a volley of plasma fire. The beams and projectiles struck the web causing it to contract faster. In little more than two minutes 20 302bs had been destroyed. "We are being halied by the Enterprise E..."

**Deep space 27**

**USS Enterprise E**

**Picards watched in horror as the war between the Typhon Pact and the Khitomer Accords **officially began. "Send a messgae to starfleet command, we have engaged Typhon Pact ships at deep space 27. Tell them we are at war." Picard grimaced and gave the order to fire. Target Isomagnectic Disintigrators and fire." The Enterprise fired a volley of white balls of energy which shot across space rapidly. When they impacted on their targets they blasted through shields to impact the hulls. Two dreadnaughts exploded as the Enterprise fired her weapons in anger for the first time since the refit.

"Have the attack ships hit the weavers, and the fighters. We will handle the heavies."

The Achillies fired its multi purpose phaser emplacements and streams of pulsed phaser fire impacted across the line of dreadnaughts. Shields flashing they continued to return fire.

"Captain Deep Space 27 is hailing us they say they have weapons lock, they are requesting permission to fire." An ensign reported. Picard nodded "Tell them they are weapons free."

As soon as the command was given the massive station opened fire with dozens of phaser emplacemenrs and destroyed six dreadnaughts, fifteen web weavers, and twenty four attack ships joined them in death as the beams tore into the Typhon Pact ships. That left only a single dreadnaught, six weaver class ships, and 59 attack ships. But as suddenly as the Typhon Pact ships had appeared they cloaked and disapeared...


End file.
